By Joshua Needham | Social Media Editor
Sarah Payson, a 21-year-old Media Arts and Tech major at MWCC, juggles a job while going to school, like many other students, but her job is a bit more interesting than most. Under the name Sango Nanami, Payson runs a YouTube channel with over 45,000 subscribers.
The channel itself started nearly 10 years ago as an account to save videos to playlists and make favorite lists, but in 2015 things took off. Payson’s specialty lies in animations, and when she made an animation based on the highly popular game Five Nights at Freddy’s views and subscriptions skyrocketed.
“The animation wasn’t even that good,” Payson said in reflection of her previous work. To her, quality is everything in her videos and she puts forth the effort to make the best content she can. Payson works with a small group of trusted individuals who lend their voices to her productions and says she rarely goes talent scouting outside of that group.
Payson was initially approached with an offer for a partnership program, much like a sponsorship for YouTube content creators and was able to start making an income from her passion. She has since transferred to a different partnership program, citing the fine print that was to be added to her contract at the time, which would have had her locked into that partnership for years.
Payson says that she works mostly on whatever content that she wants to work on, but also keeps her fans in mind, working on videos and projects that they suggest as well. Although some content creators work to pander to an audience, bending over backward for whatever is the latest and greatest trend, Payson keeps true to herself by working on the things she loves while providing the quality that her audience has come to expect.
Her creations are brought to life with a combination of Sony Vegas Movie Studio 13 and Miku Miku Dance, software for editing and animation respectively. Looking to the future, Payson hopes to be able to create original animations like RWBY, an animated series created by Rooster Teeth, which uses a similar style of animation to what can be found from SangoNanami herself.
Contrary to what many may think, even with over 45,000 subscribers, Payson says she only brings in about $20-$30 per week in ad revenue from her channel, a testament to how difficult it can be for content creators to make a living. Overall, the connection with her fans and her passion for creating are what keep her at it while working on her education as well. Her YouTube channel can be found at youtube.com/sangonanami, or check her out on Twitter @sangonanami.
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